Strawberry plant named ‘Wenatchee’

ABSTRACT

The present invention provides a new and distinct strawberry plant designated as ‘Wenatchee’ (a.k.a. ‘108818’).

Latin name of the genus and species: Fragaria x ananassa.

Varietal denomination: ‘Wenatchee’ (a.k.a. ‘108818’).

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a new and distinct strawberry plant designated as ‘Wenatchee’ (a.k.a. ‘108818’). ‘Wenatchee’ is a day-neutral strawberry plant.

Wenatchee’ (a.k.a. ‘108818’) is the result of a controlled-cross between a female parent cultivar designated 107801 (unpatented, proprietary cultivar) and a male parent cultivar designated 103095 (unpatented, proprietary cultivar) made by the Inventor and was first fruited in Watsonville, Calif. growing fields. Following selection and during testing, the plant was originally designated ‘108818’ and subsequently named ‘Wenatchee’.

This new strawberry plant was asexually reproduced via runners (stolons) by the inventor at Watsonville, Calif. Asexual propagules from the original source have been tested in Watsonville growing fields and to a limited extent, grower fields in high elevation. The properties of this new plant were found to be transmissible by such asexual reproduction. This plant is stable and reproduce true to type in successive generations of asexual reproduction.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to a new and distinctive strawberry plant designated as ‘Wenatchee’. This strawberry plant is primarily adapted to the climate and growing conditions of the central coast of California. This region provides the necessary temperatures required for it to produce a strong vigorous plant and to remain in fruit production from March through October. The nearby Pacific Ocean provides the needed humidity and moderate day temperatures and evening chilling to maintain fruit quality for the production months.

The following traits and photographs in combination distinguish strawberry plant ‘Wenatchee’ from known strawberry varieties. In addition, this new strawberry plant was confirmed to be a unique strawberry germplasm when tested against the California Seed & Plant Lab, Inc. (Elverta, Calif.) database using Short Sequence Repeats (SSRs). Plants for the botanical measurements in the present application were grown as annuals. Any color references are made to The Royal Horticultural Society Colour Chart, 1995 Edition, except where general terms of ordinary dictionary significance are used. The fruit produced by each new cultivar is attractive and of excellent quality.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The accompanying color photographs depict various characteristics of the cultivar as nearly true as possible to make color reproductions.

FIG. 1 shows fruits of ‘Wenatchee’.

FIG. 2 shows sliced fruits of ‘Wenatchee’.

FIG. 3 shows ‘Wenatchee’ plants.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

‘Wenatchee’ (a.k.a. ‘108818’)

This invention relates to a new and distinctive day-neutral type strawberry cultivar designated as ‘Wenatchee’. It is primarily adapted to the climate and growing conditions of the central coast of California. This region provides the necessary temperatures required for it to produce a strong vigorous plant and to remain in fruit production from March through October. The nearby Pacific Ocean provides the needed humidity and moderate day temperatures and evening chilling to maintain fruit quality for the production months.

The following traits in combination distinguish strawberry variety ‘Wenatchee’ from the known strawberry varieties. Plants for the botanical measurements in the present application were grown as annuals. In the following description, color references are made to The Royal Horticultural Society Colour Chart, 1995 Edition, except where general terms of ordinary dictionary significance are used.

The detailed botanical description in Table 1 was observed when the plants were 33 weeks after planting.

‘Wenatchee’ has not been observed under all possible environmental conditions, and the phenotype may vary significantly with variations in environment. The following observations, measurements, and comparisons describe this plant as grown under normal conditions in Watsonville, Calif. unless otherwise noted.

TABLE 1 Wenatchee CharType Characteristic Wenatchee General Plant Habit annual Plant Growth Habit semi-upright Plant Height 30 cm Plant Width 33 cm Plant Width-Crown 7 cm Density of foliage, vigor medium Plant vigor high Leaf Terminal leaflet width (mm) 75 Terminal leaflet length (mm) 80 No. teeth/terminal leaflet: 22 to 24 Shape of the terminal leaflet base obtuse Shape of terminal leaflet in concave cross-section Margin description of the terminal serrate to crenate Color of upper side of leaves 137A Color of lower side of leaves 139C Leaf blistering weak Leaf glossiness medium Limbs Petiole length (cm) 21 Petiole diameter (mm) 3.78 Petiole color 145B Petiolule length (mm) 16 Petiolule diameter (mm) 3.78 Attitude of hairs on petiole and pedicel upwards Stipule pubescence sparse Stipule length (cm) 3 Stipule size small to medium Stipule width (cm) 0.8 Stipule anthocyanin present Stipule color (color code) 139C Pedicel color (color code) 145A Peduncle length (cm) 19.5 Peduncle size medium Peduncle attitude semi-erect Peduncle pubescence, attitude of hairs medium, upwards Inflorescence Inflorescence position relative above to foliage Flower arrangement of petals touching Petal length (cm) 1.5 Petal width (cm) 1.8 Petal number per flower 6 Upper Petal color 155A Lower Petal color 155C Calyx diameter (cm) 4 Corolla diameter (cm) 2.5 Sepal length (cm) 2.5 Sepal width (cm) 1.4 Time of flowering March (50% of plants in bloom) Shape of stigma capitate Color of stigma 4A Length of style (mm) 2 Color of style 4A Color of the ovary 145C Length of the stamens (mm) 6 Number of stamen 22 to 30 Anther color 12A Shape of anther dorsifixed Size of anther medium Amount of pollen moderate Color of pollen 12A Color of filament 145C Length of filament (mm) 5 Number of flowers per truss 2 to 4 Stolon Stolon number 8 Stolon anthocyanin 181A Widest diameter of stolon At leaf attachment (mm) 4.27 Stolon color 145A Fruit Number of fruit per truss 2 to 3 Fruit length (cm) 5.3 Fruit width (cm) 5 Fruit skin color 42A Fruit flesh color excluding core 37A Fruit core length (cm) 2.3 Fruit core width (cm) 1.3 Fruit core color 38B Fruit weight (g) 31.9 Predominant fruit shape long conic Shape difference between primary & Similar shape secondary fruits Width of band without of achenes medium Fruit glossiness medium to strong Position of achenes even to below surface Achene color 145A Achenes per fruit 546 Achene weight (g) 0.33 Position of calyx even level of adherence of calyx strong Color of calyx 136 A Firmness of flesh medium Evenness of flesh color nearly even Sweetness (brix) 10.5 pH 3.82 Yield (g per plant per season) 2619

When ‘Wenatchee’ is compared to the proprietary female parent (107801), ‘Wenatchee’ has a cylindrical shape with plant height nearly the same as plant width, which differs from an oblate spreading shape of the female parent with plant width nearly two times more than plant height. Fruit of ‘Wenatchee’ is light orange-red, while the fruit of the female parent is light red. The fruit color of ‘Wenatchee’ is uniform over the entire fruit when ripe, however the female parent does not fully color as consistently having a white area around the calyx that appears not to have fully ripened.

When ‘Wenatchee’ is compared to the proprietary male parent (103095), the fruit of ‘Wenatchee’ has a long-conic shape, which is different from the fruit of the male parent having a roundish oblate-conic shape (symmetric conic). ‘Wenatchee’ fruit is less hard than the fruit of the male parent as measured by using a Wagner force gauge. ‘Wenatchee’ also has a greater fruit yield than the male parent.

When ‘Wenatchee’ is compared to the check variety ‘Monterey’ (U.S. Plant Pat. No. 19,767), ‘Wenatchee’ differs from ‘Monterey’ in the manner of petiole and leaf position. The petiole of ‘Wenatchee’ leaves grows more vertically upward direction than that of ‘Monterey’ leaves. In terms of canopy foliage, the canopy of ‘Monterey’ is more open than that of ‘Wenatchee’. The flowers and fruits of ‘Wenatchee’ have shorter overall crown to medial flower calyx stem length than those of ‘Monterey’. Ripened fruit of ‘Wenatchee’ falls closer to the plant than the ripened fruit of ‘Monterey’ which falls further below the level of the plant as it gains mass.

TABLE 2 Comparison of fruit features between ‘Wenatchee’ and the proprietary male and female parents FRUIT FRUIT RATIO HYBRID HYBRID WIDTH FRUIT (Height/ ID NAME (mm) HEIGHT (mm) Width) 103095 Male Parent 46.92 48.00 1.02 107801 Female Parent 39.88 46.72 1.17 108818 Wenatchee 41.33 51.62 1.25 HYBRID FRUIT HARDNESS Yield ID SHAPE* (newtons) (g/clone) 103095 6 10.54 858 107801 7 7.05 2543 108818 7 8.20 1088 *Fruit shape: 1. Oblate; 2. Globose; 3. Fan Lobes; 4. Necked: 5. Short wedge; 6. Symmetric conic; 7. Conic; 8. Long conic; 9. Long wedge

TABLE 3 Comparison of fruit features between ‘Wenatchee’ and the check variety FRUIT FRUIT RATIO HYBRID HYBRID WIDTH FRUIT (Height/ ID NAME (mm) HEIGHT (mm) Width) Check Monterey 43.70 48.33 1.11 Variety (U.S. Plant Pat. No. 19,767) 108818 Wenatchee 41.33 51.62 1.25 FRUIT HARDNESS Yield ID SHAPE* (newtons) (g/clone) Check 6 9.04 840 Variety 108818 7 8.20 1088 *Fruit shape: 1. Oblate; 2. Globose; 3. Fan Lobes; 4. Necked: 5. Short wedge; 6. Symmetric conic; 7. Conic; 8. Long conic; 9. Long wedge 

The invention claimed is:
 1. A new and distinct cultivar of strawberry plant named ‘Wenatchee’ substantially as shown and described herein. 